Sunday, May 28, 2006

A Very Nice Shade

While we were in Oaxaca we went one morning to the ruins overlooking the city- Monte Alban. At one level of the ruins there were several trees giving a dense shade. And the breeze was cool, very inviting to just lay down and think. So I did- while Renee', Hallie, and Guillermo, our guide, went on exploring. If you know me you know I very rarely pass by shade or the opportunity to stretch out. It was very peaceful even as the size and volume of groups touring the grounds increased. From time to time a vendor strolling around selling " ancient relics" would pause underneath and talk with me. I thought about how many centuries ago Indians who lived there had rested under the shade of this same tree. It was a great experience.

A while later Guillermo came to collect me, amazed that Renee' was correct in telling him I would still be laying where they had left me! We talked for a while about when, if ever, it is right to open a tomb or a grave and remove the remains or items placed inside. And I commented on the shade I had shared with thousands of years of long past others.

He told me the trees had been planted less than fifty years ago to give a resting place for the "ancient artifact vendors" on slow days!

Monday, May 22, 2006

A Different Hallway

In Huatulco we stayed at a very new hotel where the light wasn't nearly as captivating but was still interesting. Maybe that difference in the "fascination factor" was due to the fact that all the halls we regularly walked led to the pool and the Pacific ocean!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Oaxaca Hallway

On a recent trip to Oaxaca, Mexico we stayed in a renovated convent. It was very nice. And the light in this hallway was so wonderfully different and beautiful at the many times we walked down it I believe I could have photographed it for the whole week we were there--- to the exclusion of all the many other wonderful sights we were priviledged to enjoy. Or just have sat and watched. And watched. And watched.

But then that would have been pretty hard to explain to the hotel staff or my daughter. On the other hand my wife would have understood. Aren't I blessed?

Monday, May 15, 2006

More Stones

Friday, May 12, 2006

Shoes and Stones



New shoes, old stones. New marriage, same clouds. Stones are hard unless your feet are dancing, clouds portend storms that mean a opportunity to hold your bride tighter. It's all about being alive.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Grasshoppers or crickets?

Nearly four years ago while we were in China to bring our daughter, Hallie, home- it snowed in Bejing. They said it was the first time in fifty years! I made this image then and thought of it as a cricket. We have just returned from a trip to Mexico where Hallie and I dared each other to eat chapulines ( grasshoppers). We both lived up to the dare and they don't taste like chicken.
Now I've decided that it is a grasshopper, and the fainter one is a turtle, seen through the water- as a reminder of this trip to the beach in Mexico. It sure didn't snow.